The worst juice in the supermarket for your health, according to the OCU

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Having an impeccable healthy diet every day is a practically impossible goal. Undoubtedly, two of the most difficult moments of the day to maintain a good diet are breakfast and snack. In Spain we have grown up consuming unhealthy products created specifically for these meals: chocolate cereals, industrial pastries and, of course, fruit juices.

For years we suspected that cookies or muffins weren't doing us any good, but fruit juices were another story. How could they be bad for your health if they are precisely fruit? Although it is true that supermarket juices usually include free sugars among their ingredients, the ones we squeeze at home are not recommended either: they have the ability to quickly raise our blood glucose.

When a fruit is squeezed, its microscopic components are broken. As a consequence, the sugar is released from the matrix in which it was contained and, therefore, when we drink juice it is quickly absorbed. Another disadvantage of drinking juices is that the fiber of the fruit is lost in them, which also contributes to delaying the absorption of sugar and has beneficial effects. But, in addition, when we drink fruit in juice we usually consume more because liquids are not as satisfying and, therefore, it is common for us to go too far with sugar.

Too much sugar

In this sense, the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU) has observed that only a 200-millilitre bottle of fruit juice contains 22 grams of sugar. That is, the daily amount recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for children under 7 years of age and higher than the amount that children under 3 years of age should take. This is the conclusion of an analysis of 97 supermarket juices that they have carried out.

Now, for adults they are not recommended at all. The WHO explains that free sugar should account for less than 10% of our diet and, if we want to observe benefits, we should not exceed 5%. In the end we should not consume more than 25 grams a day of this food. If a juice represents 22 grams, it is very easy for us to exceed the limit: free sugars are found in table sugar and soft drinks, but also in less suspicious products such as sliced ​​bread or fried tomato.

We know that sugar can contribute to the appearance of dental cavities or make us gain weight. However, the problem that they pose in the usual diet is greater: when we consume free sugars, they pass into the blood quickly, producing a glucose spike. To compensate, our body generates an insulin spike. This chain of reactions can lead to type 2 diabetes, but what it does always generate is a feeling of hunger shortly after eating.

Fruit is always better

For this reason, both the OCU and many other consumer and health organizations recommend that we should consume whole fruit instead of juices. Although they contain sugar, in this case it is considered healthy: it is contained in a matrix and, in addition, each bite carries a considerable percentage of fiber. These two aspects cause the sugar they contain to enter the blood little by little and in a sustained manner.

Juices, in this sense, cannot be compared to whole fruit, much less replace them. In any case, the OCU is of the opinion that they can be included in the diet of children, but "it must be done occasionally, trying not to exceed 22 grams per day and prioritizing squeezed or concentrated juices, the only ones that can be considered 100% fruit-based, without additives, although in the seconds a little vitamin C is usually added to facilitate its conservation".

Last place in the OCU analysis is the nectar La merienda picnic de Don Simón. This drink contains a minimum of 50% fruit that comes from banana, grape and orange juices and concentrates. The rest of the composition is made up of water, sugar, glucose and fructose syrup —which is basically also sugar— and citric acid. It is sold in bricks of 200 milliliters and each of them contains 24.6 grams of sugar.

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